Floor Tiles: Funny Things You See in a DIY Superstore

Wandering around a DIY store (and a large one at that) is not my most favourite pastime. For me it is like seeing a museum of guilty sins, the ultimate confessional of jobs I should have done. I must confess I am left with a feeling of inadequacy and perturbation at the sheer amount of "choice" available for all the jobs I did not even know needed doing! So within a matter of minutes I naturally get distracted (it is a defence mechanism) when I see something that has a meagre amount of wargaming potential (see below, in this case it was some ceramic tiles, but those hexagon shapes shouted out as potential terrain pieces to me - naval or space?): 

Pretty patterns and shapes can lead to interesting discoveries and off the wall (literally) thoughts (see below, never saw this before, a hexagon is really three trapeziums - there should be something deeply significant to wargaming and board game construction - but fo rthe life of me I cannot see what it is): 

Hmm, gameboard or unit facing or is it useful for both? Who knows where this musing will ultimately lead. Potentially an abstract game or can I get toy soldiers to run all over it?

While popping by "The Works", I spied...

I think a wargamer is always on the lookout for "useful items" which means a secretive game of "I spy" when prowling the shopping malls and charity shops of this world (see below, what I "bagged" from 'The Works' this week):  

I am thinking of destinations such as "Moscow, Stalingrad and Berlin", rather than the "North Pole" on the signpost (a decorative 28mm piece for an objective marker). The house though I think is destined to be a cluster (yes, a return visit is needed), and perhaps a snow clad topping or dark brown town with paths between and flocked base? The pegs on the other hand were hinted at as being "good counter and marker holders"! We shall see ... 

Avalon Hill: Panzer Blitz Combat Rules

The Power of Three: What am I attacking, what am I hitting it with and how is it affected by terrain and/or range modifiers?

Panzer Blitz is a classic game from the early Avalon Hill era best recognised from hexes, symbolic terrain, movement points, attack points, defence points and the ratios between them in a Combat Results Table (CRT). A statisticians heaven. Importantly it also brought in the concept of how you breakdown an attack on a hex containing multiple targets (see below, selective attack on one target [the weakest] - multiple targets but not all attack [working from the weakest up] and finally combined attack [everything attacked as if were one big unit]):

There were plenty of opportunities for "wargaming cheese" here (or unrealisms) that exploited the mathematics of certain situations however the purity of the design principles is clear. In fact the Spearhead rules by Arty Conliffe seems to draw indirect inspiration from it in its target assignment and prioritisation of targets depending on weapon type. Another consideration apart from the power (as in attack points a counter has) is the weapons inherent capability aka purpose: Infantry Weapons, Anti-Infantry Guns (HE: High Explosive) and Anti-Armour Guns (AP: Armour Piercing), plus if it has indirect "Mortar and Howitzer" characteristic (see below, nicely summed up in a little chart):

There then follows range and target type considerations (see below, the rows read Infantry Weapons, AP Weapons and then HE Weapons):

The terrain of the target hex counts too (see below, +2 DRM with cover from Woods, Swamps and Towns, with slopes and hills significantly affected the AF because of good cover):

The above consolidated into an odds-based Combat Resolution Table (CRT) as seen below, where "X "X" is a KIA, "-" is 'No Effect', D equals Dispersed (with no action other than to rally at the end of the next player's turn, so effectively missing a go) and DD is a special chance to kill units already Dispersed this turn (see below, a special tactic in Panzer Blitz seemed to be suppress with long range fire and close assault to kill - that was one unit can be attacked twice in the same turn):

The above formula seems to have stood the test of time!

What to do with all this Sprue?

One of the strange questions I was left with after a lot of 28mm kit assembly (and it was not the wife's "Why, oh why did I not check out his hobbies deeper before I married him!") was - "What do you do with all this left over sprue - it seems too good to throw away, think about the planet". When you clip apart metal kits all spare "lead" (I will call it lead even though we all know it is not really lead) into the jar for melting down at a later date "for something ". I have taken to keeping strips of sprue thinking that it also will come into use at a later point (see below, a solution looking for a problem - a term often used in a nasty way to describe AI):  

I have amassed quite a bit of it now and it is becoming a bit of a storage problem (three full cartons of plastic [empty] ice cream boxes and still growing) and something I need to consciously hide from Great Tumberg as it does not endorse my carbon footprint positively! The closest I have come is a useful link from Renko:

https://iagsmgm.blogspot.com/2016/12/minefields-barbed-wire-exploded-mine.html?fbclid=IwAR3bCPqjw8RqXAdmcYSgJIVYSYTqh0_djmA-m-HWMqckmzT1eqEW4MpuXmc

Which means instead of strips I should be keeping corners and rectangles (pass me another empty plastic ice cream container and don't tell Greta). I should add that to save a small portion of the family's carbon footprint I am using the empty butter boxes (very thoroughly cleaned I may add .. so the detergent usage has gone up significantly) as perfect 28mm Squad boxes! My initial thoughts on sprues as they would be perfect as battered interior supports for broken buildings and making a frame for other buildings has yet to be "instantiated".

Terrain Resource: Buildings (Railway Scale) Paper

Passed onto me by a friend:
http://www.wordsworthmodelrailway.co.uk/townscene.html

It is a FREE to download but with a PP Donation button!
Have not tried it yet but the range looks good.

Even better: Trebian has spotted another site:
https://www.grundschule-pretzschendorf.de/Werken/Weihnachtsberg/weihnachtsberg.html

Simulating War: FireMove - What (terrain) is in a Square?

I posted the AAR of my latest FireMove AAR along with my to the Simulating War Yahoo Forum and received a very insightful and stimulating response from Bob MacKenzie (see full text below):

Hi Mark

I don't have access to the rules set but I will venture some comments on the terrain

Unless the rules have some way of abstracting it the terrain looks too open.  http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/b004383.pdf has some interesting graphs on maximum spotting ranges and maximum shoot in ranges. Theoretically  max LOS from any given defensive position is 300m or less (ie two of your hexes) 63% of the time. However that doesn't translate into shooting distances. 66% of engagements take place at 100m or less and 85% less than 300m. Of course it may be that the rules limit shooting to 2 hexes so take this into account?

I assume you are familiar with Army Operational Research Group report 17/52, An Analysis of Infantry Advance Rates in Battle (WO291/1159)? If not there is some info in:http://www.testofbattle.com/upload/bob/Benchmarks.htm That piece of reserch would apper to be very relevant t your game.

Cheers

Bob

Yahoo Forum: Simulating War

The research article links are interesting in themselves. From the Yahoo Discussion Forum posts I have been set to musing more on terrain. Looking back at some Squad Leader boards you can see how much low level details contained even in an "open" FireMove hex. A four hex by four hex quadrant is roughly equivalent to a one FireMove hex. Even something with predominantly "Open" terrain has a Wood, Building, Connecting Path, Hill as well as plenty of  Open  (see below):

A "Hill" hex contains Hills (naturally) of several heights, Woods, Open and even a Building plus there would even be paths linking terrain features together (see below):

A "Woods" hex has yes "Woods" but also a road/trail through the woods, a feature slope leading up rather than a hill per se, another inking of a building and clear (see below): 

Ultimately the terrain cost would be different and cover benefit would be different depending on the "side" you entered from.

US Colonel David Schroeder presented at Connections UK 2014 an interesting keynote address where he explained part of his WWI game design which took the Hexagon and broke it down into six triangles, each with their own terrain type. So the cost to enter and combat terrain benefits depended on which direction you came in from (see slide 57).

http://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/ConnectionsKeynote.pdf http://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/ConnectionsKeynote.pdf 

Food for thought! I am thinking that the core Hex should have a terrain type (the predominant terrain type) but each Hex has its LOS and movement cost.

Tug of war over what is clearly an "Objective Marker"

There seems to be a dispute growing over this precious artefact. Clearly it is a wargame "objective marker", usable across a variety of rule-sets and scales. Very, very versatile.  Purchased for the princely sum of 50p from a charity shop (see below, a bargain):

However my daughter seems to be misinformed .. she erroneously thinks it belongs with her Lego Friends and small miniature animal set and not part of a Malburian battlefield!

Note: Some of those 'small farm animals' have a "better use" than hanging around with dubious looking Lego Friends!

A Wood in the Hand is Worth Two Bushes? (More Terrain)

Terrain (continued): 

Ridges done, now time to wrap-up the "tree hex" collection. I had previously "flocked" these bases and PVA'ed thicker bushier clumps (but all at the 'same level'). A trip to Hobbycraft was needed to top up my supplies and a side-effect I that was able to generate an improved "multi-level tree-line" (see below):  

This all came about from an errant purchase, but 'quality' purchase (see below):

Instead of something that was "a lot of little bits" that I poured flat onto some PVA glue that just stuck, I got a big, solid block of  "foam stuff". I had to break chunks off. In the end I think it worked to my advantage because it meant with a touch of the artistic I created a jagged tree line instead of flat uniformity.

Into every stable system a little bit of chaos should be poured ;)

Much ado about "Green Hills and Ridges" (Battalion Attack Terrain)

To my little bowl of grit varying shades of flock are added. This is reminiscent of true Shakespearean drama, aka the Witches of Macbeth, "hubble, bubble, boil and trouble". It is also why I am probably such a terrible cook limited to a 'Chilli Con Carne' at best (see below):  

But these you have it, my terrain features are complete (see below):

From another angle (see below):

A new world of randomised terrain awaits ;)

Much ado about "Brown Hills and Ridges" (Battalion Attack Terrain)

Terrain:

Time to attack the pile of terrain "ridges" that I need for the 'free form' randomised terrain set-up of "Battalion Attack", aka "Fire and Movement". By now I~ have had my fill of the introductory scenario, its duty is done.

There are twenty 'ridge hexes' needed all told (to match the books counters), two have been already 'done' (but may need a little rework to look similar to the others) and eighteen are on the 'highlight' production line (see below): 

Note: To the ultra observant, you are not mistaken, you do in fact see the painted footprints of a small child leading away from the "Man Shed" table in the photograph above (bottom right). I will not dwell on the matter further, but suffice it to say that my stock of brown paint was seriously depleted by mysterious guest(s) who in Neolithic cave-art fashion had great fun (and if truth be told produced some fantastic abstract art in the process). Luckily the paint wore off, half way up the path, before they got back to the house proper.

Back to the Man Shed work in hand ...

I really like this highlight red-brown and white-brown effect and it seems such a shame to now have to paint and flock over most or all of it, but such is the sacrifice of 'art' and such is the urgent  need is for wargaming ridges not comic-book alien moonscapes (see below): 

Next comes the varying degrees of 'pebble and sand' stuck onto prominent features with the ubiquitous PVA hobby glue in copious quantities. These terrain making materials have been gathered from a variety of sources ranging from the left over DIY projects ("mixed grit"), to the ridiculously expensive connoisseur train-set gravel. I even have a as yet unused secret weapon; a packet of budgie grit, unopened, left on the side, waiting for 'its moment of glory'. See the result below:   

The hills are now half Terra-formed (we are back on the Sci-Fi theme again) and need an urgent  vegetation upgrade. To me they still look "cool" in this raw form IMHO :)

Next: How Green is my Valley? 

Battalion Attack: The Reason Why - Fire and Movement (Game 3 - Part III)

End Game: 

After the butcher's bill (casualty counters) is paid and the logistic (ammo low counters) withdrawals depart the British central portion of the front line looks depleted and a "tad" (a traditional Yorkshire expression) forlorn. Only one British platoon from "Green Company" remains in close assault position but is now effectively out numbered three-to-one (see below):   

Off to the left hand side a solitary "Blue Company" platoon had reached "Outcast Wood" and was in a position to close assault it (see below). This was in the twilight phase of the game. The last four turns were played out in effect solo as the British Commander "had seen enough" and was contemplatively sipping on his John Smiths with his 2-in-C knocking back a Guinness. As I was driving I was looking at them rather enviously ;)

But to me it also raises the question of "The Reason Why" we should play to a finish. Not to win, sorry if I sound overtly pacifist here, because nobody wins in war. No it is to see how it pans out. Not in a statistical sense, as in "how many ones and sixes followed" but did the game still manage to represent at the end what it nobly stated to achieve at the start?

Certainly a "philosophical" point.     

In terms of "Fire and Movement" Battalion Attack, retreat is impossible. If a platoon tries to retreat the chances are they will get suppressed and effectively be pinned in place and whittled away by the defenders  (which have no ammunition restrictions). So there is no point going back unless you are guaranteed (or stand a good chance of not being hit because of the enemy's range to you) to get off table as you will become suppressed, frozen in place and subject to the cruellest direct and indirect fire (war is unfair and hell).

What you need to seek is "hard cover" (aka "farms") or a hidden from view hex. This could explain the situation with respect to the final position (see below). The British platoon in the centre successfully close assaulted the "Farm Crescent" to inflict three casualties on the Germans, which brought their total to six, one more and a German platoon is removed. However this victory was Phyric as "ammunition expenditure removed the unit from play" - this was the bane of the British commander's life! The British platoon in "Little Gibraltar" was again lost to "ammo expenditure" but the Vickers HMG platoon caught a bullet from the defenders of the "Farm Crescent".

The one German casualty was caused by "catching a German platoon in the open" as it came from behind the "Farm Crescent" in a vain hope to reinforce "Outcast Wood". With no protective cover or dug-in status, the Germans are as equally vulnerable in the open. One additional casualty to the German total meant a platoon  removal. The board below shows the end of the game (German turn twelve - there is no British turn twelve to avoid the "last two minutes of the Superbowl land grab" - not an issue in this game).

The one ray of hope for the remaining British platoon is that it has isolated one-on-one a German platoon and if the fight were extended past turn twelve it would have at least the initiative. The bad news is that everybody else has "gone home" (not necessarily as in "dead") and with nothing left to pin the Germans in place it is only a matter of time before they bring overwhelming force to bear - but that is beyond the scope of the scenario brief and who knows "operationally" what else would be happening on the wider battlefield.

Was there a point to playing on?

I think so, not just because it is a forty mile round trip for me to play the game and that this was the only wargaming thing I managed to do this month. I did offer to "play on" but switching sides, winning was not the issue here. This was a "road test2 of the rules, it doesn't happen very often as this is only the third game I have managed to play in over seven months. To me it tested out the (unsavoury?) end game and illustrated as much as what we are NOT playing more than what we are trying to play. We are not simply killing people/soldiers. Counters are removed because the unit (some forty soldiers) becomes "combat ineffective" (10-20% casualties should do that). Over half the removals in the game were actually logistical (7) and only half combat casualties (6). In a campaign setting the battalion would have half its 'order of battle' force ready to defend itself against an immediate counter-attack.

Does the game need to visually represent the fact that there are British troops still on the table in some way? Is the ground taken/last-occupied by the British now 'unfriendly' (in some way) to the Germans and will they need to clear it? Does it restrict their future defences or give the British a closer jumping off point for next time. Will the surviving Germans be subject to a withering artillery bombardment or 'Jabo' fighter-bomber attack? I will take the discussion to the to the forum:       

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simulatingwar/message/1739
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simulatingwar/message/2057
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simulatingwar/message/2077

Meanwhile, although not played to win, what was the scale of the British defeat?

Victory Points: 

In the end it was a clear German win in the order of magnitude of six British platoons lost to one German platoon. However with respect to scenario balance it was very "pro-German" in terrains (a statistical extreme given the number of "farms" generated as terrain pieces) and had already been started with an idea to go through as many rule mechanisms as possible, rather than purely tactical gain.

The next game will be a random terrain generation affair. The book's play-test scenario should be put back in the bag as the Germans have convincingly took it (3-0). I would love to hear from anybody who has played it and got a British win. IMHO this was clearly was NOT the sector to attack

;)

Battalion Attack: The Bloodied Ground (Fire and Movement Game 3 - Part II)

The Middle is Pressed:

The British commander moves up a flanking platoon from "Blue Company" (bottom left below, which in this colour photograph looks almost the same colour as the "Green Company" marker dots) but in turn it draws additional fire from another German platoon off camera. Soon it too becomes suppressed and the steady tide of British casualties begins to mount ominously (see below):  

The sickening rise of red casualty markers as the British commander extended the attack frontage is evident (see below). Two German platoons are managing to freeze 'in-situ' four British attacking platoons in the 'open'. Controversially(?) the British mortar was engaged in (it had to be said very effectively) pinning two German platoons on the far right of the board (albeit a third of the total German defending forces) for most of the game, but leaving the supporting Vickers HMG too much to do on its own

The advanced British platoon from "Yellow Company" is poised to (almost) make an end-run assault on the left most portion of the German "Farm Crescent". The huge amount of open space makes this area a true killing field for the PBI (see below, red casualty markers indicating hits this round):

The result is bitter sweet for the British. Although the 'Yellow Company; platoon is in position to close assault the flanking wood, another British rifle platoon (from 'Blue Company') is removed from play through casualties (see below):

The Germans reinforce the centre by advancing a platoon to the far right wood. This is approximately turn seven with everything still hanging in the balance. There is a heavy exchange of fire along the line with the Germans besting the British. The 'open ground' is literally the killer factor for the British. They even suffer the indignity of being close assaulted 'back out of the far left wood' by the Germans (see below):  

British casualty removal and losses through ammunition expenditure has broken their attack. The British commander concedes 'the attack has failed' in his turn eight, but do we stop there? After all I am keen to understand what "Battalion Attack" simulates, can the British make a tidy fighting withdrawal?

Battalion Attack: The Familiar Starting Point (Fire and Movement - Game 3 - Part I)

After what seems an absolute age, I finally got behind the familiar wargaming table to throw some dice. Playing "Battalion Attack", using the book's tutorial scenario (again), but this time the co-player (rather than an opponent) had also 'read the book' (Simulating War, by Phil Sabin), hurray. Pump-primed we jumped into the action walking the scenario through to the step-off point in the book, the start of German Turn Three (see below, British attacking left to right): 

One advantage of having played the game/scenario several times before, is that the 'counters/logistics/terrain' are now prepared for in advance and subtle playing aids (e.g. units from the same company having the same coloured sticker, counters instead of cumbersome dice markers for ammo and causality counts). The "big plus" was that we never lost track of what was happening, or debated what the status of a unit was and whose turn was it to do something. The game mechanics ran smoothly.

The battle soon heated up with the British pressing the German held "Farm Crescent" hard with an important 'close assault' attack opportunity after the Germans had critically failed to nail a 'sure thing' (anything but a one .. we've all been there) on an adjacent British Infantry platoon (see picture below).

Note: The assault position (see below, before British move but after the German turn three was completed) was one the British had worked very hard (as in 'bled' casualties) to get to. The British 'Green Company' platoon adjacent to the "farm" will be assaulting this turn and a second 'Green Company' platoon is set to move up and exploit the situation and hopefully double close assault a suppressed(?) German platoon in the subsequent turns. This 'potentially' could crack the German 'Farm Crescent' defensive line wide open (which would be a 'first' in all my play tests of this scenario).

The odds were in the attackers favour: 1d6, with a British roll of (3,4,5,6) and the German defender would take three casualties as well as becoming suppressed and incapable of firing next turn, but a roll of (1,2) and the Germans would be fresh to wreck havoc on the exposed British Infantry platoons ("PBI").

The die was cast ...

The British attack was stymied (with a roll of a 1). If there was even a candid lesson in statistics and there is "no such thing as a racing certainty", then this is it. The Germans (after breathing a huge sigh of relief) in return elected to spread their defensive fire (rather than concentrate a close assault on one British Infantry platoon for slightly higher casualties) to suppress both British Infantry platoons (see below, two rolls of anything but a one [this time] sufficed for the Germans to achieve this):   

The British "Green Company" are now left 'hanging on the wire'. The proximity of friendlies stopping their 3" mortar helping and the proximity plus terrain leaving the HMG with only 50% chance of being effective each turn. Piling more troops forward will not directly help the British but probably instead serve to increase their casualties Meanwhile the German mortar has been very effective in causing additional PBI casualties in the rear ranks of the British attack.  

Next: The battle is pressed

Man in Shed - Making Terrain (Battalion Attack)

A painter's progress ...

A sight that Picasso would have been proud of, thick slabs of acrylic paint daubed seemingly indiscriminatingly at random over 'many' surfaces (see below):    

You should be able to see (in the picture above) ten hexagon 'ridge tiles' getting prepared for the terrain box needed for Battalion Attack's random board set-up (see below):

In total  there will be:

• 20 Ridges
• 10 Woods
• 6 Farm Complexes

Which is six extra ridges and one extra farm complex than the counters provided in the box, but the hexagon terrain project is slighter larger in scope than the 'Battalion Attack' game. 

Battalion attack - Fire and Movement (1944) : Game 2

Return to "Battalion Attack" - Fire and Movement project (from Phil Sabin's Simulating War book) got a second outing. See below for the revised terrain board, with the British Infantry Battalion (1943-45) attacking left to right, hits a German defensive line of two companies. This is a hasty attack scenario.

The British start in the left most column (Germans setting up in columns 4,5 and 6). My acquisition of "brownish "Lego (TM) pieces from a trade with my eldest son has enhanced the look and feel of the "Farm Complexes" terrain sections. A certain familiarity with the board (second time out now) also allows me now to nickname certain features.

• Top left hand corner, "Little Gibraltar" (the only British held "Farm Complex" at the start of the game)
• Top right hand side corner, "The Alamo" (the German 'retreat' bastion)
• The top centre, "The Iron Crescent" (German held/dominated defensive lynch-pin of this sector, comprising of three farm complexes, one ridge and two sections of woods)
• Bottom right, "Outcast Wood" (home to the German left flank platoon, in a similar role to the 20th Maine at Gettysburg, "You sir are the left flank")
• Bottom left, "Overhang Ridge", (a superb British HMG baseline position situation ideal for 'overhead fire' on "The Iron Crescent")

'Putting the toys on the board' (as per the Simulating War "example of play pp215-219, see below). The book play through was a good training session for the two newcomers (but experienced wargamers and board gamers) I umpired for. They took up where the book left off.

Note: The figures "off table" (in the black non-playing area) are:

• To the left hand side the British off-table three inch mortar support platoon
• To the bottom, the German replacement counters for any platoons that move out of their dug-in status. Also to note all fighting rifle platoons have been given a 'company colour' sticker for ease of identification (which is important in some firing circumstances). The platoon number has been dropped as insignificant to the rules).    

Another 'improvement' to the terrain from last time were the 'new look' ridges. Instead of being another layer cardboard tile I used a magic material called Dufaylite (TM) which is a cardboard honeycomb (think "bees" hexagonal honey cells) used as the filler in a thick cardboard sandwich. The beauty of it is that the material is that it can be cut with a hand saw into hexagon shapes. Then the hexagon sides can be easily sculptured into slopes with a bit of pressing, snipping and gluing (a cheap glue gun helped here) up to a small plateau. Finally  painted and flocked (see below for the "Overhang Ridge" HMG position):.

The emphasis I place on styled terrain is intended to 'better' represent the terrains impact on the battlefield. For example when I used the plain brown hexes for "farm complexes" in the first game I felt that it unintentionally mislead the British player into thinking that "the attack prospects" were much easier than they actually were. I thinking by making the terrain look more formidable this important balance should be somewhat redressed.

The Second Replay

Despite Battalion Attack - Fire and Movement being a "short game" we only managed to play eight full turns, filled with wargaming discussion. The situation you see below is at the start of Turn 9 (as in the German player goes next).

Game summary: Coached to a certain degree as regards what had happened in the first (experimental) game, I think the players made a decent stab at playing the game as to how it was intended to be played. It also helped that the fire combat modifiers had been better clarified on the Simulating War YahooGroup. The rules now played correctly (in the first 'experimental' game the Germans benefited from additional defensive modifiers that were from misreading the rules) gave a much more fluid game.

Review of Tactics: The British battalion commander decided to press forward with an infantry close assault on "The Iron Crescent" despite the daunting nature of the task. His slow methodical progress paid off to the extent of clearing the furthest forward "farm complex" and inflicting one German Platoon casualty (the one the Germans had decided to 'advance into during the first two turns of the game). "Outcast Wood" was largely ignored but nevertheless was a bullet magnet as the British commander fell for that old wargame adage of "use what you have got while you have still got it". The result is a cumulative frittering away of assets (every seventh shot eliminates a friendly platoon through ammunition attrition), no one attack being the deadly sin, but the net effect is a poor "fire discipline". At the end of turn eight the German baseline was still looked a very long way off, the Germans still at five sixths strength and the British down to half half combat effectiveness (six rifle platoons and two support platoons). The defence looked like it might be bent but not broken. The German player "hung tight" and committed his reserve platoons to "strengthen the line" at the moment of crisis and I think he was heading to win as the British commander was gradually "running out of infantry". 3VP to the Germans and only 1VP to the British. Who had the idea of attacking this sector without tanks?  


The Rules Re-examined (again):

One feature of the Fire and Movement combat mechanisms (i.e.the ammunition attrition and direct fire casualties) is that the attacker can "bleed from the back," with more often than not the attacker being able to selectively choose what platoon dies (and not necessarily being the unit being "hit" the most). This allows the attacking player to 'keep the momentum going".

Another rules feature was the incredible usefulness of the HMG (especially in indirect fire mode) and the battalion mortar in providing covering fire for the infantry attack.. The former is particularly useful as a well sited HMG (on a ridge) can provide some covering fire (albeit with a negative modifier) 'danger close' whereas the mortar has to 'check fire' due to 'adjacent friends'.

One thing that became clearly apparent was that "dug-in troops" can be relatively easily suppressed but not KIA'ed. The designer notes this as a deliberate feature, something that a lot of miniature rule sets do not follow, the classic being Squad Leaders 'breaking' broken units on a second hit and the tendency of heavier shells "Verdun'ing" infantry (Command Decision and Spearhead).  

Finally, to make any headway the British player has to pay the butcher's bill and get some rifle platoons into a Close Assault position on the German occupied "fortified/covered" hexes (i.e. the farm complexes and troops dug in woods) as it is the only way to score casualties on the Germans

Addendum:
Wow, bit of a big "brain dump" of a post but I think it was worth it ;)

YahooGroup and this Posting can also be found at: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simulatingwar/message/1992 

"Fire and Movement" - Battalion Attack (Terrain Version II)

I need to run the "walk through" scenario again. Firstly to get the rules correct, secondly to use a consistent terrain look and feel (I was four farms short last time and substituted in some 'brown card' which I think made the prospects of attacking the 'farm crescent' LOOK too easy) and thirdly it was challenging fun. If possible I would like to play the attacker this time.

The 'new' farm terrain (courtesy of my son's Lego collection) is shown below, British attacking left to right, moving onto the board on Turn 1 (hex row 1), with the Germans defending the right hand side board, positioned in rows 4, 5 and 6 (where rows in this photograph are running vertically up and down the page).  

The 'new look' of the formidable defensive 'farm crescent' as per viewed from the British lines looking across at the German positions, with the German 'Alamo' farm in the far distant (see below):

Note: This picture (below) is rotated 90 degrees from the first picture in this post (above)  

An aerial view of the 'farm crescent' from behind the German side of the lines, with the German 'Alamo' nearest the camera bottom-middle and away top-right of the frame is the British farm I nicknamed contentiously as 'Little Gibraltar' (see below): 

By contrast the countryside to the left hand side of the battlefield is spare and open, dominated by the German held 'Hexagon Wood' far left and the wood to the left of the 'farm crescent' complex (see below):

So the attacker has the choice of a bloody assault into the 'crescent farm complex' or a rush across open ground, hmm, the game is called 'Fire and Movement' but perhaps it would br better called 'Fire, Suppress and (only) then Move'.

WWII "Fire and Movement" - Battalion Attack Game - A Tour of the Terrain

The basic clear battle board with coloured card marking the terrain features (see below):

• Dark Green : Woods
• Dark Brown : Farm Complex
• Light Brown : Ridge Line

Basic card mounted on thick box cardboard and painted with the appropriate colours (see below):

Quantum jump to the terrain as it is landscaped (see below):

Yes, I have no shame, the children's Lego box is raided to represent some simple farm houses (see below): 

Trying to get the 3D perspective at a slight angle (see below):

A close-up on the "island" of randomly generated terrain (a farm complex hid amongst woods). The bottom right hex is looks an Achilles heel to the defender as it potentially is a hidden rout into the "island" (see below):

Across to the left of the "island" are the open 'killing fields', a albeit small protective copse of woods and two small ridges to the far distant horizon (see below):

The battle board from the defenders baseline perspective (see below):

A final look at the "farm complex" on the "island" (see below):

All that is missing is the troops and an opponent ;)